Follow-up

The Champions of the 3rd Season the Astana Arlans from Kazakhstan have shattered the Team Germany in the home match with the score of 5-0, Tengrinews reports citing Vesti.kz. The Wolves ripped out their rightful place in the quarterfinals of the WSB after defeating the German’s with the overall score of 8-2.

“The result certainly made us all happy. As I have mentioned it previously and I want to emphasize it again, the Team Germany is a very difficult opponent. They have a good number of experienced boxers, while our team mostly consists of WSB debutants. They have not adapted fully to the new format yet. But all our guys did a great job,” the Chief Coach of the Alpha Wolves Sergei Korchinsky said after the match.

Miras Zhakupov took over Ronny Beblik in the flyweight category (-52 kg). Zhakupov redeemed himself after being TKOed by Mexican superstar Elias Emigdio in the third round. The experienced Arlan clearly outclassed his opponent in every round winning 50:45,50:45,50:45.

“The opponent was good. He was shorter than me and did his best. But we have thoroughly prepared to face him and prepared a tactics while watching his previous fights. All in all, I think we did our best,” Zhakupov told Sports.kz.

In the lightweights (-60 kg), the captain of the Wolves Samat Bashenov fought against Artur Bril. Bashenov who had previously lost two of his bouts remained steady throughout the fight against the German boxer. Bril tried to through Bashenov off balance in the first two rounds but the Kazakh southpaw surpassed his unconventional opponent with highly technical boxing. The second bout of the night ended with the referee raising Bashenov’s arm up and the 50:45,47:48, 50:44 score.

The welterweight (-69 kg) bout was the decider of the night. Meirim Nursultanov faced Vjaceslav Kerber of the Team Germany. Nursultanov too had lost his previous fight against the Azerbaijan’s Yauheni Ramashkevich. But the young Arlan was ready to bring victory to the Wolves in his third bout of the season. The Arlan boxer showcased a real talent for getting through the last hit after almost every clinch. Coach Korchinsky commented on Nursultanov’s bout by noting the boxer’s cold-minded boxing. “Today one of our debutants Meirim Nursultanov showed a steady boxing and outclassed his opponent,” the Coach of the Astana Arlans said. Nusultanov brought the victory to his team with the overall score of 3-0.

The light heavyweight (-81 kg) fight started much earlier than the boxes climbed into the arena, actually during the weight-in when the Croatian mercenary Hrvoje Sep locked Serge Michel in a stare down. It took a coach to tear the boxers away from each other. In the boxing ring, the Arlan boxer was as determined as he was during the weight-in. Sep dominated the ring imposing his close range boxing. The orthodox German boxer was definitely ready for Sep and a good match for the Alpha Wolf in his determination to win. It was a literal head to head fight. But the German’s stamina and admirable determination were crushed by the Croatian’s iron fists.

“Sep showcased a master-class of close range fight. It was a very interesting fight, especially for people who understand boxing because there were a good number of beautiful combinations. It is a real art of earning points in a close and mid range distance fight (…),” Korchinsky added.

The final bout in the super heavyweight category (+91 kg) was no less exciting than the previous fight. WSB Best Asian Boxer in 2012 Ruslan Myrsatayev (8WP / 4TKO / 1KO) faced the German super star Erik Pfeifer (2WP / 2TKO / 1KO). Myrsatayev was defeated in his first fight of the 4th season by Haji Murtuzaliev. The fans of the Kazakh warrior were wholeheartedly cheering for their favorite boxer. Despite losing the first two rounds, Myrsatayev lived up to the expectation of the crowd in the third round and onwards. The Kazakh boxer won the previously undefeated Pfiefer. “He has redeemed himself before his fans for the previous loss. Myrsatayev has defeated one of the strongest heavyweights in the world, which is twice as good,” Korchinsky commented.

The Astana Wolves defeated the Team Germany with 5:0 and claimed their place in the quarterfinals of the WSB 4th season. The Wolves will face the Baku Fires that won the Italian Thunder 5:0.

Earlier, the Russian Team won Ukrainian Otomans with 8:2. The US Knockouts were knocked out by the Cuban Domadores 5:0. The US boxers will face the Cubans on April 12 in a home match.

The first home fight of the WSB semifinals, the Wolves will have in Astana, Kazakhstan on April 25th. On May 2, the Astana Arlans will fight against the Baku Fires in Azerbaijan.